HERALDIC GLOSSARY
from
A Glossary of Terms Used in Heraldry
by James Parker
first published in 1894

NOTE: Parker's Glossary is an extremely extensive and voluminous work on the subject. I have attempted to include in these pages only the terms the reader requires to understand the Clann ÓGallchobhair's arms and the subject in general, and have edited some of his entries for brevity and clarity. The reader must also be aware that this work concerns English heraldry chiefly, and as such has direct application to heraldry as it is found in England. As a result, certain differences will be apparent concerning Irish (Gaelic) heraldry, of which some practices have been shown to predate the arrival of the Normans on the island.

ARMS: Signify the Armorial bearings (fr. Armoiries), or in other words, the tools of battle. Strictly speaking, however, the term is applied only to those borne upon the shield. Crests, badges, and the like are not properly so described. The origin, or even date, of the earliest examples of armorial bearings has occasioned much dispute, so that the subject requires a treatise to itself.

The various modes of acquiring, and reasons for bearing arms are differently described by different writers, but the following varieties will be found to represent the more usual classification.

ARMS OF DOMINION are those borne by sovereign princes; being those of the states over which they reign: while 

ARMS OF PRETENSION are those borne by sovereigns who have no actual authority over the states to which such arms belong, but who quarter them to express their prescriptive right thereunto.

ARMS OF SUCCESSION, otherwise called FEUDAL ARMS, are those borne by the possessors of certain lordship or estates: while 

ARMS OF FAMILY are hereditary, being borne (with proper differences) by all the descendants of the first bearer.

ARMS OF ASSUMPTION are such as might rightfully be taken, according to certain laws, from the original bearer otherwise than by grant or descent: and 

ARMS OF ALLIANCE are those of a wife, which a man impales with his own, or those which he quarters, being the arms of heiresses who have married into his family. 

ARMS OF ADOPTION are those borne by a stranger, when the last of a family grants him the right to bear his name and arms, as well as to possess his estates: and 

ARMS OF CONCESSION are granted when an important service has been rendered to the sovereign. The grant almost always consists of an Augmentation, q.v. 

ARMS OF PATRONAGE: those of the lesser nobility or gentry derived from the arms of the greater.

ARMS OF OFFICE, such as those borne by Bishop, Deans, Kings of Arms, &c.; and lastly,

ARMS OF COMMUNITY, those borne by cities, towns, abbeys, universities, colleges, guilds, mercantile companies, &c. The arms of abbeys and colleges are generally those of their founders, to which the abbeys usually added some charge of an ecclesiastical character, as a crosier, mitre, or key. Such arms, as well as those borne by Sovereigns, are more properly termed Insignia.

MERCHANTS MARK: Though not properly a coat of arms, as merchants were not men of battle, nevertheless, merchants, tradesmen and craftsmen devised a similar system of heraldry and even improperly placed their various marks and symbols on shields. Today this is a huge endeavor known as corporate identity, with very stringent laws in all countries protecting the marks, signs and symbols of merchants.  

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ARGENT: the tincture silver (or white). By those who emblazon according to the planetary system it is represented by the Moon, just as the tincture of gold is represented by the Sun. Hence it is sometimes fancifully called Luna in the arms of princes, as also pearl in those of peers. As silver soon becomes tarnished, it is generally represented in painting by white. In engraving it is known by the natural color of the paper. In the doubling of mantles it may be called white, because (as the old heralds say) it is not in that case to be taken for a metal, but the skin of a little beast called a Litvite. Sometimes, too, in old rolls of arms the term blanc is used.

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BADGE: or COGNIZANCE: a mark of distinction somewhat similar to a crest, though not placed on a wreath, nor worm upon the helmet. They were rather supplemental bearings quite independent of the charge of the original arms, and were borne on the banners, ensigns, caparisons, and even on the breasts, and more frequently on the sleeves of servants and followers.

The badges borne by the Kings of England are very numerous, and are to be found on tombs, carvings, embroidery, stained glass, and paintings. Certain officers also wore badges. Crown-keepers, or yeomen of the crown, bore on their left shoulders a crown, which, under the Tudor sovereigns, surmounted a rose.

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BLAZON: a word which, whatever may be the derivation and original meaning, now simply means to describe a coat of arms in such a manner that an accurate drawing may be made from the description. In order to do so, a knowledge of the tinctures, ordinaries, charges, and points of the shield is particularly necessary. In blazoning a coat of arms the first thing to be mentioned is the field, whether it be of one tincture, as gules; or parted, as per fesse; per pale; or quarterly (and then add 'first,' or 'first and fourth'), &c.; or if it be of any of the patterns frequently used, such as checquy, bendy, fretty, &c.; or if the field be seme, or strewed with any small charges without regard to number (and they are to be named next after the field itself), always naming the tincture or tinctures.

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CADENCY: also called DISTINCTIONS, or DIFFERENCES: variations of the original arms of a family, or marks attached to them for the purpose of pointing out the several branches, and the relation in which they stand to each other and to their common ancestor. In ancient heraldry a plain label, most frequently azure, appear to have been the distinction of the eldest son and heir apparent. 

The differences now in use for all families except that of the sovereign may be partially traced to the time of Edward III. They are as follows:

FIRST HOUSE.
First son. A label of 3 points.
Second son. A crescent.
Third son. A mullet. 
Fourth son. A martlet. 
Fifth son. An annulet.
Sixth son. A fleur-de-lis.

Some heralds pretend that the seventh son was marked by a rose, the eighth by a cross moline, and ninth by eightfoil; but this theory does not seem to be borne out in practice. This first son of the first son of the first house bears a label upon a label (or more agreeably to ancient custom a label of five points). The second a label charged with a crescent, and so on for all other sons of this branch.

SECOND HOUSE. 
First son. A crescent charged with label of three points. 
Second son. A crescent charged with a crescent. 

And so on for the rest, but it is not usual to bear more than double differences. There are no differences for sisters (except in the royal family), as they are all equal, but they should bear the differences which pertain to their fathers.

Crescents, mullets, &c., used as differences should be drawn smaller than usual, to distinguish them from ordinary charges. They may be placed upon any part of the arms which is most convenient. There does not appear to be any rule respecting their tinctures.

It also appears that younger sons bore the label variously charged, sometimes with the whole or part of their mother's arms, or the arms of a distinguished family from which they were descended; that more distant branches changed the colors, or charges, of the coat; placed a bend over it; surrounded it with a bordure, or assumed a canton, plain or charged.

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CHARGE: anything borne on a coat of arms, whether upon the field, as was more usually the case in ancient arms, or upon on ordinary, or indeed upon another charge. The position of a charge, unless occupying the center of the field, i.e. the fesse-point, has to be stated.   [back to top]

CRESCENT: (fr. croissant, old fr. cresaunt, pl. cressanz): a half-moon with the horns uppermost. A crescent is the ancient ensign of the Turks, and was without doubt introduced into heraldry by the Crusaders, and hence in arms dating from Henry III's reign onwards it is very frequently employed. It is also the mark of cadency assigned to the second house.

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CREST: a figure anciently affixed to the helmet of every commander, for his distinction in the confusion of battle, and was used before the hereditary bearing of coat armour: it is not infrequently confounded with the badge or cognizance, which is a different thing. The word timber includes the crest, helmut, wreath, &c., in short every thing which is above the shield.

Crests do not appear to have been considered as in any way connected with the family arms until the fourteenth century, when Edward III conferred upon William of Montacute, Earl of Salisbury, the right to bear an eagle. The earliest representations of a crest in mediaeval times in England upon any authentic record is perhaps that on the great seal of Richard the First, on which a lion appears figured on the helmet. It does not, however, seem to be a separate attachment, but to be a part of the helmet, and also appears in old illustrations to have been attached to the head of the horse as well as to that of the rider. Ancient crests were, for the most part, the heads of men, or of birds, or of animals, or of plumes or feathers. Such inappropriate figures as rocks, clouds, and rainbows were never used for crests while heraldry was in its purity. The list of the varieties of crests found on arms at the present time would fill several pages, but it may be observed that heads and portions of men and animals are still found to be the most frequent.

Unless the contrary be expressly mentioned, a crest is always to be placed upon a wreath, and such was, in general, the most ancient practice. The mural and other crowns are occasionally used in the same way.

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COAT OF ARMS: or coat-armour: the general term for the escutcheon or shield of arms, but properly applicable to the surcoat. The armor, or coat of mail worn by medieval warriors often became hot in the sun. A long, sleeveless garment was frequently worn over it as protection. This was called a surcoat (overcoat). By the XIIIth century the surcoat had become short, and many knights wore their emblems (also called bearings, or arms) on their surcoats as well as on their shields. So grew the expression "coat of arms."

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DEVICE: a motto, emblem, or other mark by which those who entered the lists were distinguished at tournaments, but especially a motto affixed to the arms, having some punning allusion to the name. It differed from a badge or cognizance only inasmuch as it was an arbitrary and generally temporary distinction, whereas the badge was often borne by members of the same house successively.

DIMINUTIVES: something smaller than the regular size; on a smaller scale. For instance, the diminutive of the bend is the bendlet, being half its width.

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ERECT: in an upright position.

ESCUTCHEON: the shield itself whereon arms are emblazoned. This is the most important area as here is displayed the primary heraldic symbolism of the arms. Indeed, the escutcheon may be the only component of many coats of arms. The shape of the shield is not defined exactly and provided that it generally resembles a shield in appearance, just about any shape is acceptable. In English heraldry women bear arms not on a shield, but on a lozenge. 

Positions on the shield have their own descriptors. Right and left are referred to as "dexter" and "sinister" and always relate to the shield as if you were standing behind it. In other words, the dexter side is the right side as you stand behind or the left as you look at the shield. The top of the shield is called the "chief," the middle the "fesse point" and the bottom the "base." Combining these gives you terms like "dexter chief," "sinister base," and so on. Shields are often divided into quarters referred to as 1st (dexter chief), 2nd (sinister chief), 3rd (dexter base) and 4th (sinister base). In any blazon (heraldic description), the first descriptor always refers to the color or division of the shield, so a coat of arms that is simply described as "sable" consists of a simple black shield with no adornment.

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FIELD: the ground or surface of the shield on which all charges are placed. See Blazon.

FESSE: (fes) One of the ordinaries. A strip or band applied horizontally across the shield, occupying one-third of the field. Its diminutives are the bar, the barrulet and the closet. It is the most natural form to be produced in the construction of a shield, though fanciful heralds find an origin for it in the military girdle. It should occupy, according to heraldic rule, one third of the height of the escutcheon, but this proportion is almost always considerably diminished in practice. Its position is across the center of the shield, unless it is described as enhanced, or abased.

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GULES: The tincture (color) red. The term is probably derived from the Arabic gule, a red rose, just as the azure was derived from a word in the same language, signifying a blue stone. The word was, no doubt, introduced by the Crusaders. Heralds have, however, guessed it to be derived from the Latin gula, which in old French is found as gueule, i.e. the "red throat of an animal." Others, again, have tried to find the origin in the Hebrew word gulade, which signifies red cloth. Gules is denoted in engravings by numerous perpendicular lines. Heralds When blazoning by planets or jewels heralds called it Mars, and ruby.

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HELMUT: the covering for protection of the head in warfare has varied in form from the earliest ages onwards, but an account of the various shapes belongs to the history of armour. In heraldry the helmet assumed an important place as an appendage to the shield, for on this was fixed the crest. Originally there seems to have been no special distinction as regards the forms of the helmet; they simply followed the customary shape of the period, and were drawn sideways; but in Elizabeth's reign it would appear that certain kinds of helmets were assigned to different degrees of nobility.

I. The sovereign's was to be of burnished gold, affronty, i.e. full-faced, with six bars, or grilles, and lined with crimson.

II. The helmets of dukes, marquesses, earls, viscounts, and barons, were to be composed of silver or polished steel, with five gold bars, and lined with crimson. According to some authorities they should be placed neither affronty nor in profile, but between those positions; but there seem to be conflicting directions, and the practice varied.

III. Baronets' and knights' helmet were to be affronty and open, but supplied with a visor. They are supposed to be formed of steel ornamented with gilding, and usually lined with crimson.

V. The helmets of esquires and private gentlemen were to be placed in profile, with the visor or beaver closed; to be of steel, but enriched with gold. These are drawn after various patterns however, the only point being that the visor should be closed, whence they are termed close helmets.

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The French timbre includes the helmet and all that belongs to it. For the appurtenances it is supposed we are indebted to the tournaments, and they consist of the crest, the wreath, the supporters, the mantle, ribbons or feathers, and the scroll.

It should be added that helmets are seldom, if ever, found over the shields of bishops (except over that of the Bishop of Durham, to represent his temporal dignity), the mitre taking its place; or over that of women, except in the case of a sovereign. More than one helmet may be placed over the same shield, but it is rare.

HORN: Used to describe the points of the crescent, as well as the horns of the various beasts and monsters.

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HORN: Used to describe the points of the crescent, as well as the horns of the various beasts and monsters.

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LION: unless expressed differently, is always understood to be rampant. This beast is perhaps the most frequent of all bearings. In early heraldry it is generally represented rampant, while leopards are represented passant guardant, and hence the arms of England, no doubt, are more correctly blazoned as leopards. Practically, however, the same animal was intended, but different names given according to the position; in later times the name lion was given to both. The position of rampant is the one most common as it was thought to be the most natural for the lion. It signifies rearing, but with the sinister hinder leg and the sinister fore leg lower than the two dexter legs respectively. The lion is rarely represented rearing with both its hind legs touching the ground and its fore legs even. A lion rampant, like all other animals, is always understood to be facing the dexter side of the shield. A lion may be armed, or armed and langued, of a different tincture (i.e. with its tongue, claws, or teeth, &c., of such tincture); or disarmed, that is deprived of claws and teeth; also enraged or incensed, that is with fire issuing from the mouth and ears. Heralds frequently describe the tail of lion in the blazon; for instance, the animal may be represented as coward, that is, with its tail hanging down between the hind legs (whence the English word). It may also be represented with the tail erect, but this is rare, the ordinary position for the tail being as if curved over the back; it is very often forked, that is a double tail, and this is sometimes represented nowed or knotted.

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MANTLE:  a device of the painter to give prominence to the coat of arms and crest. In theoretical heraldry it is considered to represent the lambrequin, or covering of the helmet, to protect it from the sun or rain. Some authorities contend it should be of the principal colour and metal of the bearer's arms, but red and white have most frequently been used in England. The Royal mantling should be of gold and ermine; that of peers is often of crimson (representing crimson velvet), lined with ermine. This kind of mantle cannot be used by ladies, being inseparable from the helmet.

The Robe of estate, however, may be used as a mantle, in which sense it may be borne by all ranks of gentlemen, and by peeresses, and it represented as encircling the crest, if any, and the whole of the shield or lozenge with its external appendages. The mantle may be embroidered on the outside with the arms, or be powdered with heraldic objects. No man of lower rank than a knight (or perhaps than a peer) should double his mantle with ermine.

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MOON:  (fr. lune, lat. luna): the moon is a common device. It is occasionally borne full, called 'in her complement,' and it is then figured with a human face. It may also be illuminated, that is, surrounded with very short rays. Its proper tincture is argent. When sable it is supposed to be eclipsed. When a half moon is represented with the horns towards the dexter side of the shield it is supposed to be increscent, and is described as 'in her increment;' when the horns are turned to the sinister side it is supposed to be decrescent, and is described as 'in her decrement' (or, as some blunderingly write it, 'in her detriment'). But these terms are chiefly found in theoretical works, and not often in practical blazon. When the horns are represented uppermost the charge is simply a crescent, and this from the earliest times was the special ensign of the Turks. The term luna is used signify argent in the fanciful system of planetary tinctures.

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MOTTO: literally, "word" in Italian, this is a word or sentence upon a scroll, generally placed below the shield, but sometimes, especially in Scotland, above the crest. Many ancient mottoes were war-cries. But the generality of mottoes express a sentiment, hope, or determination. Mottoes are often borne by several successive generations, but may be changed at pleasure. The languages most used is Latin, French, and English; but in Scotland they are often in the old Lowland dialect, and in Wales, in the language of the principality. A few peers used Italian mottoes, and some recent ones are even in Oriental languages. However, there is no monopoly on the use of a particular motto, and the same motto may therefore be used by many different families. Numerous mottoes are listed and identified (and foreign ones translated) in C N Elvin, A Handbook of Mottoes (1860, revised edition 1971). Indexes of mottoes also appear in the Burke and Fairbairn.

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ORDINARIES: are certain charges in common use in arms, and in their simple forms are bounded by straight lines, so that they may well be supposed to have had their origin in the bars of wood or iron of different shapes used for fastening together or strengthening the portions of which the shield might be composed. Their number has never been precisely agreed upon, but most heralds reckon nine principal ones which they call honorable, namely, the cross, the chief, the pale, the bend, the bend sinister, the fesse, the bar, the saltire, and the chevron. The following charges are generally reckoned as subordinaries, namely, the bordure, the canton, flanches, the gyron, the inescutcheon, the orle, the quarter, the pile, and the tressure, all of which appear to encroach, as it were, on the field. To these are added the fret, the label, the pall, and others, but there seems to be little reason to separate them from several other rectilinear charges. The diminutives of the ordinaries (which are never charged) may be reckoned as follows: fillets and barrulets, pallets, bendlets, scarpes, closets, cotises, chevronels, crosslets, and saltorels. But there is much diversity; some consider the bar to be but a diminutive of the fesse.

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PROPER: when a charge is displayed of its natural colour it is said to be proper; the word is sometimes used also as to shape, when there is a conventional or heraldic form of the charge, and when the natural form has to be adopted. It is not good blazon to say 'a rose proper' in regard to tincture, because some roses are red and others white, and the same remark will apply to any object whose colour varies at different times, or in different examples. The use of the term, however, often involves practically a disregard of the heraldic rules as to tincture. It is used to denote colours, and mixture of colours, and shading, and the like, quite unknown in all early coats of arms. Applied to the human figure it involves the use of flesh color (fr. carnation), as well as of the colors of costumes of various kinds. It will be found that kings, bishops, figures of saints and children are blazoned proper, as also each mythical being as Neptune, a triton, and a Sagittarius. Limbs and parts of men are also blazoned proper, e.g. arms, hands, legs, eyes, and even bones.

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SABLE: black, the term being probably derived from certain animals with black feet called Sabellinoe (mustela zibellina of Linnaeus). It is called Saturn by those who fancifully blazon by the planets, and diamond by those who use the names of jewels. Engravers represent it by numerous perpendicular and horizontal lines crossing each other.

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SEME: sometimes written semy, it means that the field is sown or strewed over with several of the charges named, drawn small and without any reference to the number. Various synonyms are used by heraldic writers. More modern writers used such terms as aspersed, replenished with, and two old French terms averlye and gerattie are also given in glossaries. Some writers use sans nombre, and a very fanciful distinction has been made between this and seme, namely, that when all the charges are drawn entire, "sans nombre" should be used, but if the outline of the field or any ordinary cuts any of the charges that then "seme" should be used.

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SERPENT: the serpent or snake, for they are in heraldry absolutely synonymous. They are found in the ancient rolls under the name of bis; the word survives in the Italian biscia, or cobra of Milan. The reptile occurs rather frequently in coats of arms, and its position should be described. It may be represented erect, or it may be drawn gliding or fessways. It may be involved or encircled (both terms meaning the same). Snakes are also represented nowed, or twisted in a knot. Many varieties are given, but heraldic writers such as Holme devote several pages to imaginary positions of serpents,  and fanciful terms to fit them, none of which, however, are found to occur in any coats of arms. They are sometimes represented with tails in their mouths; at others round a pillar, or round necks of children. Another term is 'adder,' from which there is little or nothing to distinguish the charge in heraldic drawing.

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SHIELD: (Anglo-Sax. Scyld): from the earliest times no doubt the shield borne on the arm to protect the bearer in battle was ornamented with various devices, one object of which was that the bearer should be recognized by his friends in the midst of the fight; and to the devices on these shields there can be no question that armorial bearing chiefly owe their origin. The fact that the devices were afterwards portrayed on the mantles and on the surcoats, on the trappings of the horses, or on flags and pennons, does not militate against this origin, since such were later developments. The crest on the helmet, however, may perhaps be considered in theory to have as early an origin as the device on the shield, but throughout the middle ages it was the device on the shield which marked the man, and afterwards his family, far more than the crest.

From the much more frequent occurrence on the earlier arms of the simpler devices, such as the fesse, the bend, the chevron, &c., it may reasonably be presumed that these had their origin in the structure of the shield itself, i.e. from the bars of wood, or more probably of metal, which passed athwart the shield to strengthen it. The example so frequently referred to as an early device, namely, the escarboucle, is essentially such as a thirteenth-century armorer would adopt to strengthen woodwork, and a similar device is not infrequently found on doors of churches. It was not originally deemed a charge but merely an ornament.

Concurrently with the plain devices (which have in systematic heraldry received the name of ordinaries), devices derived from the animal vegetable kingdom were adopted, and since these gave far greater variety they tended to supplant, as well as to supplement the others. The lion, as the emblem of strength and courage, was of course the favorite device amongst animals, as the eagle amongst birds, and the dolphin amongst fishes.

The shield, in its practical sense, was portrayed in sculpture and in stained glass throughout the middle ages for the purpose of containing the device; and though the outline was frequently modified -- particularly in later years -- to harmonize with the architectural details surrounding it, the shield form, ending in a point, was nearly always retained.

In some cases a circle is adopted on seals instead of a shield, but there is no evidence that this was due to anything but the fancy of the artist, since ecclesiastics and laymen, warriors, and religious or municipal communities, have sometimes the shield, sometimes the circle.

Women of all ranks (the sovereign alone excepted) are now supposed to bear their arms or lozenge - shaped figures rather than on shields, but formerly all ladies of rank of bore shields upon their seals.

The shield is, for convenience sake, partitioned our into certain divisions, usually reckoned as nine in number, and called Points. Shields in more rare instances are themselves borne as armorial bearings, usually blazoned as Escutcheons.

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SURCOAT: a coat embroidered with the arms of the wearer, or in the case of heralds, &c., those of his lord. It was at first without sleeves and girt with a belt, but in later times sleeves were added and the belt laid aside. The first English king on whose seal a surcoat appears is King John. The usual practice was for the arms, whether single or quartered, to appear upon the surcoat both before and behind, and also upon each of the sleeves.
Ladies formerly wore the arms of their husbands upon their mantles, and their own upon their close-fitting vests. At a later period the arms were borne impaled on the outer garment. Surcoat is sometimes improperly used instead of an escutcheon over all.

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RAMPANT: standing erect on the sinister hind-leg.

TINCTURE: the metals, colours, and furs used in armoury are called tincture. As a general rule, a charge of metal should never be placed upon a metal field, nor a coloured charge upon a coloured field, but to this there are some exceptions. First, what the French call armes pour enquerir, or armes à enquerre, as the insignia of the kingdom of Jerusalem, where gold appears on silver; and in other cases where colour appears on colour. The furs are in a sense tinctures, and to a certain extent follow the rule of the others; that is to say, ermine is considered as argent, and ermines as sable, so far as the tinctures of the superimposed charges are concerned. The nine tinctures are as follows, though tenne and sanguine are not so clearly recognized as the seven others. See also Proper.

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TREFOIL: literally 'three leaves' in French, the term 'iij foils,' i.e. 'trefoils' seems to occur in blazon as early as Edward II's reign; but whether the 'three leaves' were conjoined or separate there is no evidence to show; the term may possibly afterwards have been adopted to represent the clover leaf. The ordinary form is similar to the clover, but it is subject to variations. It is, however, always borne with a stalk, generally ending in a point, when the term slipped is used. If however, the stalk is not represented as torn off (which the term slipped implies) it must be described as couped. With French heralds the trèfle is distinguished from the tiercefeuille by the former having a stalk and the latter not.
With the trefoil may be classed the shamrock, i.e. the three-leaved clover, which is considered the badge of Ireland, being traditionally associated with St. Patrick, who is said to have adopted it as a symbol of the doctrine of the Trinity.

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VERT: green. Absurdly called 'Venus' by those who adopt the planets method of heraldry, and 'emerald' by those who adopt the named precious stones method instead of the true name of the tincture. It is expressed in engravings by line in bend. The French are said to have called it sinople, from a town in the Levant (probably Sinope in Asia Minor) from which were brought the best materials for dyeing green, or silks and stuffs of a brilliant green color, but the term does not occur before the fifteenth century. In the ancient rolls vert seems to be used occasionally. The term prasin from the Greek has also been fancifully used.

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WREATH: the wreath, technically speaking, is the twisted band composed of two strips of gold or silver lace and silk by which the crest is joined to the helmet; though some wreaths of the fifteenth century were of four tinctures. It is sometimes, but improperly, called a roll, at others a torse. It was, perhaps, copied by the crusaders from the wreathed turbans of the Saracens. Wreaths should always shew an equal number of divisions (now restricted to six), which are usually tinctured with the principal metal and colour of the arms alternately. Every crest is understood to be placed upon a wreath, unless a chapeau or some coronet be expressly mentioned.

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